


Exquisite Distraction

by inaudible_d



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Casual Sex, Heist, M/M, Multiple Partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 09:50:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6513328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inaudible_d/pseuds/inaudible_d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sho, Meisa, Shun, and Nino are a group of thieves. They had pretty impressive track records, until Matsumoto Jun appeared and made Sho lose his mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exquisite Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for steffilinos at 2015 kitto-slutparty@livejournal.

Sho glanced to his left and his right, making sure that he was on the right place and the frame in front of him was the exact painting that he was aiming for. He reached to the bottom right part of it, trying to pull the last security attached that separated him from it. He caressed the side carefully, not wanting to commit a mistake and trigger the alarm instead. He found what he was looking for, and then he pulled it.

He waited for a second, then two, then three, ten, fifteen. Thirty seconds. The room was still as silent as it was before. Sho heaved a breath of relief and started to take the painting down the wall.

That night was another success on his hand. Then, as he carefully walked out of the place of crime, hands holding the piece carefully to hand it to Nino later, he checked a mental to-do list in his head.

\- $ -

“Congratulations for another celebration-worthy success!” Sho cheered as he raised his glass, followed by the people around him.

“Say, Sho,” Nino bumped his shoulder when he sat back down on the comfortable sofa, “What’s our next target?”

Sho laughed at Nino’s not-so-vague attempt on bringing the conversation back to him, “You mean,” Sho cleared his throat and straightened up, then he looked at Nino with a mock-serious face, “What is our team’s next target will be, Ninomiya san?”

Nino smacked Sho’s back of the head, eliciting a fond chuckle from Shun. “Idiot. I’m asking you seriously.”

Sho made another sound of a fond laugh, “Nino, let’s just celebrate this success tonight. Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll find the next target sooner than you think,” Sho sipped his wine. “And isn’t it usually you who found us a nice target in the end. Don’t be so hard at yourself about it and just enjoy for a while.”

Nino huffed and slumped on his seat, defeated. Meisa found it cute and poked his sides, to which Nino cringed to. Meisa just laughed in amusement as she saw the look on Nino’s face.

“I mean, I heard that there’s this new art thief in town and they, he, she – I don’t know – are great! There were almost half a dozen reports from the big museums on stolen art pieces already, and I– fine, alright, enjoy the celebration party while it lasts and think about work later,” Nino gave in. He took the wine glass he had left on the table before and sipped the drink in. It didn’t take him five minutes until he was laughing with Shun over a silly joke.

Meanwhile, Sho felt something poking his nerve. If Nino’s words were true, and he had always been, then this person was a bad news to them. Life as fugitives was hard enough these days, they really didn’t need a rival that will make their lives harder.

But as Sho watched Meisa and Nino tickled Shun mercilessly while Shun was laughing and shouting like there was no tomorrow, he drew himself away from his own disturbing thought. There was no need to think about that right then and worrying over non-existent things. That night is the time for them to have fun, to celebrate, because work would still be there to be taken care of later come morning.

\- $ -

The meeting for their next target was commenced the next Monday. Contrary to the cheerful and slightly drunken self they had showed the last time they met, they showed up with a casual but serious expression on their faces. They commenced the meeting in the safest place in the whole universe, Oguri Shun’s basement.

“I have looked through our connections and the list of precious art pieces and their respective museums,” Nino began the meeting, sitting on the long sofa all by himself, dropping a pile of documents to the coffee table “And this time, I have found a new approach for our next target.”

“What do you mean new approach?” Sho, who was sitting on the single couch beside the coffee table, joined in. He was the most enthusiastic participant of the discussion, like how he usually was. Shun was nowhere to be seen, probably preparing some food and beverages for his guests. While Meisa was listening idly from the corner of the room, looking bored while filing his nails.

Nino looked at Sho’s direction, “Here’s the thing, Sho chan,” the fact that Sho was the appointed leader of the group didn’t stop Nino from using the too casual and somehow affectionate name to address him. “Our last loot didn’t get a good bargain when I and Meisa brought it to our usual auction place. Actually, less and less people are coming to the auction and I have a feeling that something else was going on. Something that can endanger our business here.

“I tried to find out why and what was going on, then I found out that, apparently, there was this new guy – yeah, I had made sure that this person is a guy, his name is Matsumoto Jun, by the way – who would take whatever piece of art that’s requested to him. The rate he put on himself is not really high, and people prefer to request to him than to spend much much more money on auction.

“And, to remind you guys, the pieces we’re taking are those special pieces that people need to bid high prices to actually get it,” Nino paused to take a breath, “So I and Meisa have tried a new approach, and guys, we have a client for our next job!” Nino tried to sound enthusiastic but all he got was a little nod from Sho, a whirring sound of coffee machine from Shun, and a sigh of relief from Meisa, who was probably just finished doing one of her nails perfectly.

Nino was used to the situation, so he continued with the planning. He spread the pile of papers he had been putting on the table, separating the client’s files and the files regarding the art piece that is their next target. On the place where the pile was supposed to be, Sho saw another file left, marked with a big X on the cover.

“What’s that?” Sho got distracted and asked.

“We’ll talk about it later, Sho chan, now let’s talk about this first,” Nino brushed the issue off then began to talk about their client’s identity and background.

Shun emerged when Nino finally arrived to the talk about their target. He brought a tray with cups of coffee and a plate full of handmade pancakes. The smell of coffee and butter was filling the air right away.

The meeting went on like their usual meeting would, they talked about the art piece and how to brought it out from the gallery - this time it was actually a small gemstone, the art piece was the copper plating that was carved and painted in a way that made the stone look like it shines brighter. They decided that – since the size of the piece wasn’t very big – they would just put it inside the pocket of the jeans that the person who was going to take it – Sho – was wearing.

After the talk about how to bring the piece out was done, came their talk about the real thing, how they would break in. The piece was stored in a locked safe of the Tokyo Bank, but the next weekend it would be taken out and displayed on the gemstone exhibition. The exhibition would take place on the Mori Art Museum. Lucky for them, they had broken in to that Museum a couple of times before, so they just need to re-discuss the plan. Of course, the security had been increased since their last visit, but that just meant that they had to add one other step to get to their destination.

Eight hours later, after a whole hour spent on a heated debate between Sho and Shun on who got to stay in car to wait for everyone to go back home safely, the meeting was concluded. Sho lost the debate; he wanted Meisa to stay in the car and Nino to distract the security guard, like how they did the last time, but Shun was keener on the idea of having Meisa tease the guard to distract them. Sho had to agree, finally, after Shun made a point that they could also let Nino in, wearing dress, because his pretty face would be passable anyway, and Nino had to end the debate right then and there.

\- $ -

Sho watched intently as Meisa started talking to the security guards. It was the weekend already, and they chose five minutes before closing time to start doing their mission. Meisa would be the first one among them to enter, and Shun would follow after. Sho would be the last one, after Shun had made sure that their path to the loot was cleared.

They never talked the details on how to break in or what to talk to the guards or how to knock down the people inside. Each of them had their own preferences on doing their things and they preferred to not talk about it from time to time. That’s why then, when Sho finally watched how exactly Meisa did her things, he was amazed. That woman moved swiftly on his feet, and she distracted the guards enough so they didn’t realize that she’s also doing other things than just talking to them.

Sho listened properly to their communication line, wanting to learn how Meisa actually worked, and up until then he could only hear her talking about the exhibition inside. Well, that, and some sweet nothings to the guards, that woman. Sho kept listening and turned his eyes away from the front door. He looked at Shun and whispered, “she’s good” – not wanting Meisa to hear what he said through the line.

Shun smiled smugly on that, hands and eyes still working on his revolver – Shun, for one, liked to do his preparation on the spot; he didn’t like to fill his guns under the watching eyes of his companions.

“Meisa, Sho said you’re good like he’s watching you for the first time ever,” Shun talked to the line, making Sho panic, “Now whose fault is that, right?”

From the line, both could hear Meisa giggling. It could be easily mistaken as Meisa being flirty to the guards, thanks to Meisa’s timing. 

Meisa kept talking to the guards for another five minutes after that, Sho and Shun still hidden by the side of the park in front of the building. Finally, after Shun started to become restless on his place, impatient to start moving, Meisa said to the guards, “May I use the bathroom inside?”

“That’s my cue,” Shun said, grinning, before moving out of their hideout and to the front of the building.

Sho was then left alone in their hideout, waiting for his time to do the hardest part of the job. He listened through the line as Shun made his way inside and to the safety vault. Shun grunted every once in a while, which was familiar for him, meant that everything was alright. Sho listened and waited, arranging the plan in his head.

“Get in, Sho,” Shun’s voice from the line broke Sho out of his daze and he replied with a short hum as acknowledgement.

Sho got through from the front door, that’s how they always did it, because it was the easiest and they wouldn’t need to break anything. He strolled quietly through the path Shun had made for him that they had talked about on their planning – that guy had made sure that every security camera in that path was jammed. Sho kept going on silently and carefully until he reached the front of the vault. There were some guards.

A pair of strong arms pulled Sho to a small crook of the wall.

“Shun,” Sho whispered. He was surprised by the sudden intrusion. That was not in their original plan.

“I have made the path easy and clear for you,” Shun replied, completely ignoring the tone of complaint in Sho’s voice, “but I can’t get rid of those guards, they’ll shoot me,” Shun somehow managed to sound nonchalant even though Sho knew that he was freaking out.

Sho patted Shun’s shoulder, “Just go with Nino’s plan, Shun.”

Shun tensed up a bit on hearing Nino’s name, “I don’t like Nino’s plan,” he mumbled.

“I can hear you,” Nino replied to their line.

Sho laughed slowly at the conversation, “Go, Shun, the world needs you.”

“No, stop using that phrase, Sho, that doesn’t even mean anything,” Shun grumbled, but stepped out of their hide anyway.

Sho chuckled again and he started to watch how Shun tried to distract the guards. He used the ultimate very legit words to distract them, saying that he was lost and he tried to get out of the building but failed and he was scared because it’s getting dark inside.

“Too bad we can’t film this, I want to watch this,” Nino’s voice was heard again, “I bet he looked believable as hell, with the tights and those muscles. I bet the guards believe him very well.”

Sho couldn’t even reply to that because he had to try hard to contain his laugh. The reply came from Shun shortly after. He cursed through the line and apologized to the guards shortly after, saying he was tripped on his own feet. That had made Nino laughed so hard to the line and Sho had even harder time to stay silent.

“Sho, don’t get distracted,” Sho heard Nino’s voice again through the line and he straightened himself up. He had to do an important job and he had to do it correctly.

Shun was already nowhere to be seen, he managed to bring one of the guards away from the door, leaving one in front of it for Sho to handle. Sho took a small pebble out of his pants pocket and throw it to the wall across him. The guard was startled at that, he pulled his gun out of his pocket and aimed it at the wall. Sho smiled a bit, this was always too easy, he thought.

In a speed that was almost inhumane, Sho got out of his hide and ended up behind the guard. He pulled the guard’s hand that was holding the gun so it was aimed to the floor. Sho pulled the guard’s other hand behind his body, hard, making the guard grunted in pain. At the same time, Sho shuffled with the guard’s other hand and dropped the gun to the floor.

The guard, in pain and dazed because of Sho’s sudden attack, tried to struggle himself free. But Sho was stronger than him. Sho pulled the guard by both of his hand to the floor and pushed him against it. When the guard’s body are locked under him, Sho hit the guard’s head with the back of his gun. The guard went unconscious after that, but still pretty much alive. Sho had to hurry.

Leaving the guard’s body in front of the vault’s door, Sho brought the key he just took from the guard’s pocket to the keyhole. He unlocked the door with ease and stepped inside the room. No security was put inside the vault, just like how Nino had guessed it. Sho walked easily to the middle of the room, taking what they had been targeting for.

“Nino, I got it. Wait me out,” Sho spoke to the mic.

That night, the victory was, once again, theirs.

\- $ -

“Shit. That was really great,” Meisa said between her ragged breaths.

Sho just hummed and continued steadying his breath while lying on the bed. He put one arm above his face, closing his eyes.

“Seriously, Sho,” Meisa sat up, “If Keiko knew you fuck like that, she’d been head over heels for you already. What have you done all this time anyway?”

“She’s not like you,” Sho grumbled, “Besides, it’s not like we’ve never done this before anyway.”

“I know, I just like to point that out every now and then,” Meisa leaned on the headboard, “I wish I don’t have to take turn with Shun on this.”

“You have a boyfriend,” Sho grumbled, still having his arm over his face.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with him,” she replied, sounding offended, “I mean, you’ve been having crush on Keiko since forever but you go around doing this with me and Shun anyway.”

Sho went silent. He couldn’t say anything to rebuke that. In his defense, he needed sex to release his tension sometimes, and having companions who happened to see it the same way as him was a benefiting situation for him.

Although, if he had to admit, it did feel lonely sometimes. All he wanted was a normal love life with the one he loved the most, but too bad for him, he was hopeless when it came to it.

\- $ -

The next mission came so soon because the words of their success had been floating around and so more people tried to contact them, asking to be their prospective client. Nino was the one who handled all that. After all, he was the one with the best judgment among all of them. Nino decided which client will brought them most money, and more fame, so they could get even more. Nino decided which target was the easiest to retrieve but still precious enough so they didn’t look like they’re stealing toys. They’re professional thieves, after all.

Five missions had gone by, and all resulted in huge successes. Meisa and Shun still took turns to screw with Sho each time they nailed a mission. Sometimes, Nino would show up too, when he needed something more than what he could get with some other random people he met at the gay bar.

That night, Sho was ready for another mission. Their client for the mission was a collector of the rarest art piece in the world. He was once an art thief himself, finding pleasure in retrieving the rarest pieces by his own hands, but age wouldn’t lie and he had to rest more after he reached the age of fifty. He didn’t give up on his hobby to collect the art pieces, though, so he hired people to do it for him.

Their target for that night was extremely difficult. The building they had to penetrate wasn’t one of the usual buildings they did their activity in, so they had to work harder on making the strategy. They managed to do it, though, after a struggle of persuading and knocking people down on their way.

And so there Sho was, standing in the heart of the vault that held the thing they were aiming for.

“So this is the guy they have been talking about,” a voice was heard from the corner of the room and Sho jumped a bit. His hands reached the revolver on his pocket and aimed it at the source of the voice.

“Aw, don’t shoot me, please, I only intend to observe, that is really rude,” the person walked out of the shadow, closer to Sho.

“You’re Sakurai Sho, right? The Sakurai Sho? The one they had been talking about. The oh-so-famous art thief of the country. The most eligible bachelor. The one great great person who manages to never get himself caught in the act,” the man continued talking while moving even closer to Sho.

“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?” Sho couldn’t help but felt worried about the other person’s presence. His gut told him that this person was dangerous, although not in a way that would make him be found by the police or something.

“Sho, what happened?” Nino’s panic-sounded scolding from the line didn’t help either so Sho chose to not answer it.

“My name is Matsumoto Jun,” the man, Matsumoto, pulled his hand out for Sho, “Put that down, would you? Don’t want to make a mess around here, do you?” Matsumoto added, gesturing for the gun.

Sho put his gun down, but he wasn’t taking Matsumoto’s hand. He moved backwards, tried to put some distance between them again.

“Matsumoto as in the famous new thief Matsumoto Jun?” Sho remembered Nino told them about him once. He eyed him.

Matsumoto raised one of his eyebrows. Sho couldn’t help staring, the man’s eyebrows were really distracting, he thought.

“Apparently we have the same target tonight, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto didn’t answer the question. He put his hand down, as Sho didn’t seem like he would take it anyway.

“Yeah, so?” Sho tried to collect himself. No one had ever told him that the infamous new thief looked this... distracting. The moles around and on his lips, especially. What the hell are those even?

“I call dibs on the item,” Matsumoto moved closer again, invading Sho’s personal space, “Because I came here first, and you’re late.”

Sho froze on his feet. He wanted to stop that guy, he wanted to fight him so he’d give up and the victory would be on their side again, he wanted to shoot the gun he was holding straight to the man’s head. Even so, all he managed to say was, “Okay.”

“I see. We have come to an understanding, then,” Matsumoto finally withdrew, putting some distance between them again, before smiling at Sho for one last time and disappeared from the room.

“Sho! What happened?! Sho! I hear things and I don’t like it!” Nino’s voice was suddenly loud on his ears. Sho didn’t realize that Nino had been screaming and shouting to him before because somehow the presence of Matsumoto in front of him made everything go mute.

“Sho, I’m not picking you up if you don’t answer, you know the rules,” Nino’s voice was slower, but much more demanding.

“I’m going out. Wait,” was what Sho managed to answer.

\- $ -

“I still can’t believe it,” Nino hissed trough his teeth. They were in a ballroom for a party that was held by their most recent client. The client who asked for the piece that Sho didn’t manage to retrieve. Nino had forced Sho to come with him, attending the invitation that the man sent. They had apologized to him, and returned the money he had paid to them for the first payment, but Nino insisted that they should come to meet the man to give him their proper apology.

“I’m sorry, okay. You didn’t tell me that there’s a possibility for something like that back then,” Sho retorted, then felt guilty instantly because of course it wasn’t Nino’s fault. Not even the tiniest bit of their failure that time was Nino’s fault.

Nino just scoffed on that and continued walking through the ballroom. Sho followed closely behind him, didn’t want to get lost among the crowd of people.

“We need to go upstairs. I’ve told him we’ll meet him upstairs,” Nino explained briefly, not slowing down even a bit. Sho just nodded and continued following him.

The meeting was brief, and it ended better than Sho had expected it to end. Their client was surprisingly taking the issue lightly, even though he didn’t seem like an easy-going person at all. He just brushed Sho’s apology off, and said that they should have enjoyed the party instead of talking about that. He also told them to not worry about that because he would certainly contact them again if he found another piece he had his eyes on.

So there they were then, awkwardly drinking cocktails while looking around the ballroom, trying to enjoy themselves. Nino had started complaining that he hated the crowd but Sho didn’t budge. Nino had wanted to go home immediately after the talk with their client, but Sho insisted to stay for a while longer, to give some more respect.

“Seriously, Sho, there’s nothing interesting here–” Nino stopped talking when he managed to follow Sho’s eyes, finding that there was Kitagawa Keiko, Sho’s long time crush, on the other side of the ballroom. “Oh,” he nodded his head.

“What are you doing just staring at her like a creep, you moron?” he scolded Sho, “Let’s go over there and talk to her.”

“Wait,” Sho resisted when Nino pushed him to move.

“What?!” Nino barked. He stopped nonetheless; his eyes returned to what Sho had been staring. Apparently, Sho didn’t only have his eyes set on Keiko, like how Nino thought before. There, beside her, was Matsumoto Jun. Nino sighed. This was going to be ugly.

Sho finally found it in him to walk to the other side to greet the both of them, and Nino followed closely behind, already thinking about some mitigation plans if the worst had to happen.

“Matsumoto san, I didn’t expect to meet you here,” Sho greeted first, not minding whatever conversation was currently going on between Matsumoto and Keiko.

Both of them turned their heads to look at Sho’s direction, their faces were colored with surprise. Sho smiled at them politely, nodding slightly as an apology for intruding their conversation.

“Oh, look, it’s Sakurai san!” was Matsumoto’s reply. “It’s nice to see you. You look good in suits, who would have thought about that. I thought you’d only look good in your working attire! Those tight pants really flatter your ass, you know, but those dress pants are not bad either, I see.”

Sho tried his best to keep the smile on his face while Nino started to move nervously beside him.

“Oh and is this Ninomiya Kazunari?” Jun turned his head to Nino, and then he pulled his hand out, “I’m Matsumoto Jun. Nice to meet you.”

Nino pulled his hand out to shake Jun’s. “Nice to meet you too.”

“I feel like I’m the intruder in this now,” suddenly Keiko spoke, “Jun kun, if there’s nothing else to talk with me, I think I’ll need to excuse myself.”

“Ah, no, wait, Keiko chan,” Jun turned his head to Sho again, “Is there anything you need from me, Sakurai san?”

Jun kun. Keiko chan. A bitter voice was heard on Sho’s head and he didn’t like it.

“Ah. Nothing. I just want to say hi to you guys,” Sho replied coldly. “We are just about to leave, anyway, right, Nino?”

Nino, who had wanted to leave even before the awkward encounter happened, nodded his head along.

“Ah, I see, alright then,” Matsumoto nodded to them, “See you later then, Sakurai san, Ninomiya san.”

Sho and Nino nodded and bowed slightly before they left the both of them. They walked to the car quietly, and Nino had to walk faster to follow Sho’s hurried steps.

“What the hell,” Sho grumbled somewhere along the way, and Nino just sighed on that. This was really going to get ugly.

\- $ -

Nino’s worries didn’t come true, fortunately, as they got their next missions since the party. Sho was better than he had always been, pushing himself to the limits and exercising like he’s some kind of professional body-builder or something. It resulted in successful and flawless missions, so Nino had nothing to complain against that.

However, the recent changes didn’t exactly go smoothly. Sho’s determination towards the mission made them have to detail every situation and strategy. They went from the easy going guys with solid plans to the serious guys with bulletproof schemes. Every mission had to be talked about to the very tiny detail, and they had to stick to that until the end. Sho had become so strict to the point that he’d be pissed off when someone did as much as improvising on their plan.

It didn’t come without protest from the others, of course, Shun was the first one to throw his objection, saying that he liked to keep everything flexible and he wanted the freedom to do as he pleases. He stressed on how they had done it that way for what, five, six years now, and they had always succeeded in that. Sho silenced him by saying that they had to do something if they wanted to keep succeeding. Their plan failed when they had to face the new guy didn’t please Sho very much.

But Shun had mostly complied probably because Sho had let him do his way however he wanted it the last time they had their session. And probably for the upcoming sessions. Shun looked happy enough that he was allowed to control Sho and do things freely in bed so he agreed on detailing plans for their mission.

Meisa, on the other hand, agreed instantly on how Sho would like to detail his plan for everything, mostly because she liked to try her charm to the guys. She would practice on how she made use of her assets, like how she not-so-subtly showed his cleavage while talking her way out, and drank in all the attention she’s getting.

They kept doing some of the missions in that manner, and they had succeeded every time. Nino had made sure that they wouldn’t have to meet Matsumoto for their missions because even though they had been pushing themselves beyond limits, he wasn’t convinced that Sho would be alright if he had to fight against Jun. More and more money came to their accounts as more and more clients used their service.

However, that one particular day, Nino received a very intriguing request. There was yet another exhibition in town, and everyone had been setting their eyes on the event. It was the annual painting exhibition held on the National Art Center that would feature a private collection consisted of the rarest paintings in the world. The four of them had never done a mission for that exhibition despite it being annual, just because the security was unbelievable.

Nino didn’t agree immediately on that, he brought the issue to his friends and let all of them decide. As he had expected before, Sho said that they had to do it even before he finished telling them the whole thing. Nino then proceeded to tell them about the possibility for them to meet Matsumoto at that exhibition because that was just the kind of thing Matsumoto went to. Sho just shrugged on that, like meeting Matsumoto wasn’t a real big issue, and said his final decision that applied to all of them. They were going to do that mission.

So the next weeks had been spent on researching, planning, and practicing. They had to research first for what to face and how to get through those. They made a strategy on how they would do it and how they would split the task – who would do what by how. They spent more time practicing, making sure that everything was perfect and flawless.

Their struggle seemed to be paid off, for on the day of the exhibition, they managed to penetrate the building just fine, using the scheme they had been planning before. Everything went smoothly as planned, and finally, Sho was inside the room where their target was put. He smiled to himself, feeling satisfied because he managed to get in, and walked to retrieve the thing they had been targeting.

Until a voice broke the silence and Sho almost jumped in surprise.

“We meet again, Sakurai san,” was what Sho heard. He didn’t even need to listen closely to know who it was.

“Matsumoto,” Sho addressed coldly, “what are you doing here?”

Matsumoto chuckled on that question before he answered, “Well, waiting for you, to be completely honest.”

Sho frowned, his brain tried to process what the man meant by that, yet he failed.

As if Matsumoto could see him frustrated in the darkness of the room, he let out another chuckle. Sho had no idea why he found the chuckle so distracting, but then again, every single thing about this Matsumoto guy was distracting for him.

“I was waiting for you, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto talked again, “because Keiko chan told me to say hi to you when we meet again,” he walked closer to where Sho was standing, frozen on his feet, “and I knew that you’d be here to tonight, so I waited for you to come before leaving,” Matsumoto smirked, “Besides, it would be rude to just leave and let you come to see your target has already disappeared, isn’t it?”

“What the–,” Sho whispered, and then turned his head to the direction of the painting they had been aiming for. Matsumoto was right, the painting wasn’t there anymore.

“We have the same target for tonight, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto replied calmly, “I checked who else would be involved in stealing this piece, and I could easily find Ninomiya’s name, that’s probably the reason I decided to take on this mission, to be honest,” Matsumoto raised one corner of his lips to a wickedly alluring lopsided smile, “Wouldn’t want to make Keiko chan’s request went unfulfilled. To say her greetings to you, I mean.”

Sho was moving his hand to get a grip on his revolver like the last time they met, but that movement didn’t go unnoticed by Matsumoto.

“Are you trying to try to shoot me while I’m talking to you?” Matsumoto’s tone suddenly changed into a serious one, sending chills all over Sho’s spine. “That’s rude, Sakurai san, don’t you think so? Or is it just how you deal with things all the time you’re involved in this career? Pity.”

Sho stopped his movement all at once and just stared at Jun, at loss of what to say, or what to do. What is this strange thing that always happened to him when Matsumoto was around anyway?

“So yeah, I was just going to say that,” Matsumoto returned to his cocky self, “I have waited for–” he raised his left hand and looked his watch, “exactly fifteen minutes now. I’ve never stayed in a crime scene this long,” he tsked himself.

“Well then, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto waved his hand and walked to the door, “see you again next time!”

Sho only managed to move and hear Nino’s loud yelling on his ear when the slightest view of Matsumoto’s back was out of his sight.

There was it, another failed mission tainting their record, all just because one Matsumoto Jun.

\- $ -

Their last mission had affected Sho so bad that he had pushed himself, along with Nino, Shun, and Meisa, to work harder for their upcoming missions. He scolded Shun for not being detailed enough and he practically barked at Meisa because she once again made fun of their practicing session. The scolding ended up with Shun and Meisa yelled back at Sho for being irrational and that it was his fault that they failed. After all, Sho was the one who got to the place but didn’t manage to take the item.

Shun and Meisa was so angered that Sho didn’t change the plan even though they knew that Matsumoto would be there. Shun insisted that he would definitely do better if Sho wasn’t the one who met Matsumoto that time, since Shun also heard how the conversation between Matsumoto and Sho happened. Shun wasn’t the guy who would be worked up over such things, but Sho had finally pushed the wrong button on him so he got enraged.

The shape of the group was really unhealthy by then that Nino had decided to not accept any other client until everything was cleared between the four of them. He had tried to talk to Sho alone to try to get the man calmed down, but that didn’t end up pretty well. Instead of a nice talk of what was going on and what they should do to bring their group together again, Nino was getting a sore ass instead. Sho could be pretty rough on doing his job, and he could be equally rough in bed.

After several attempt of trying to get into Sho’s head ended up with Sho getting inside his pants, Nino finally gave in. The sex with Sho wasn’t bad either. After all, that was the reason why Shun and Meisa would happily share their sessions and made neat schedule to have their way with Sho. If that was what it takes to make Sho finally talk in the end, he would gladly do it.

Nino’s effort didn’t go to waste. That night, the seventh night in the two weeks they had spent fucking, Sho finally got himself to talk.

“I’m such a stupid ass,” Sho started the conversation when the both of them were lying side by side on Sho’s bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

Nino responded to that with a hum. He cheered himself mentally meanwhile for a job well done.

“I really shouldn’t have let that Matsumoto guy get into my head like that,” Sho still covered his eyes.

Nino had to try his hardest to not laugh at Sho’s statement, he didn’t completely manage it, a smile still found a way to his face.

“I mean, that guy, what the hell is wrong with that guy?” Sho continued even when Nino didn’t voice his reply, “Who does he think he is? Going around doing a mission alone like that, already aiming for the big catch. He makes it sound too easy. He makes it sound like our job is child-play.”

“Sho kun,” Nino finally got himself to talk, “you’re just pissed because that dude flirted with Keiko, aren’t you?”

Spot on. Sho’s body tensed a bit at the mention of Keiko and Nino had to once again hold back the chuckle that was already waiting by the back of his throat.

“It’s not–,” Sho exhaled, “Fine! I hate his guts! How dare he! It feels like he’s purposefully picking a fight with me, you know! And it’s even more horrible because I can’t even put up a proper fight! I mean, have you seen his eyebrows? Those are really distracting if you see it from a close distance.”

Nino’s smile found its way back to his face. If Nino was allowed to give his free opinion, he would say that Sho was probably attracted to Matsumoto in the weirdest of ways, but he didn’t dare to voice it out loud for the fear that Sho would kick him out of his house in the middle of the night.

So, instead of voicing his thought, Nino said, “He did sound like a jerk when I listened to your conversation from the line,” Nino paused a while, carefully picking his words, “I don’t think he means harm, though, that guy. He’s just like us, I think, wanting to make it great in this messed up part of the world.”

“But he didn’t have to flirt with my crush!” Sho finally put his arm away from his face and turned his face to look at Nino.

At that, Nino couldn’t hold it anymore. He finally laughed out loud at Sho for being such a goofball.

Sho looked at Nino disbelievingly for that, lips pouting and forehead frowning. Nino laughed even harder at that expression.

“I say he’s just teasing you, Sho,” Nino said finally when he was done laughing, “Don’t mind so much about that. He just wanted to outdo you, outdo us, and it was only natural for him to do such a thing.”

Sho scratched the back of his head. “You’re right. Urgh. I was so stupid. I’m really sorry for dragging you guys into this. I’m such a mess.”

“That’s alright, Sho,” Nino patted Sho’s shoulder, “I’ll make sure you won’t even have to meet him for our next missions. But that means you’ll have to switch places with Shun sometimes.”

Sho nodded weakly to that before lay back on the bed. His arm covered his eyes again, and not one minute later, Nino already heard a soft snore from him. Nino smiled at that, silently making a mental note to do his job more properly next time. Not even three minutes later, he, too, drifted off to sleep.

\- $ -

The next time they gathered for a meeting, Nino laid everything bare. He made sure he had run a thorough background check on everything. He checked and re-checked for every possibility, every prospective opponent, and told his mates all the facts he managed to gather. Sho had gone softer that time, not even raising his tone a bit when speaking. Apparently, the talk that he had with Nino really helped him lift a heavy burden from his chest. The meeting went well that day, and they were slowly getting their chemistry back again.

They managed to nail the mission and some missions after that. Nino always made sure that he did the background checking thoroughly. He made sure that they wouldn’t need to meet Matsumoto on the target’s place. If there was a possibility that they would meet, Nino would be the first to suggest that Sho and Shun switch places, so Sho wouldn’t have to meet Matsumoto. Sho willingly complied every time, which was a bit surprising for the three of them because he was usually against the idea of switching roles with Shun. 

That was a good thing, apparently, because there was this one mission that clashed with Matsumoto’s, and they managed to retrieve the item before Matsumoto did, which was usually their problem when Matsumoto was involved, only because Sho and Shun switched places. That made Sho incredibly happy and treated the three of them for a celebratory dinner – they usually shared the bill when they had their celebratory dinner.

Although, however careful and meticulous they planned for their missions, a mistake would always find a way to mess their job. Like that particular night, when Sho just managed to take the thing they’re aiming and was ready to leave, he heard slight sound of footsteps approaching him.

“Ah, finally you came. I have been waiting for you.” 

Sho froze on his spot. It was unmistakably Matsumoto. He held the loot like his life was depended on it when he saw Matsumoto approaching to him. Well, his life _was_ depended on it anyway.

“Don’t worry, I won’t take that,” Matsumoto smiled, “This isn’t even my mission,” he chuckled a bit.

Sho didn’t loosen his grip on the loot when he replied, “Then what the hell are you doing here, you arrogant piece of–” Sho stopped himself. It didn’t feel right to use curse words to Matsumoto and Sho didn’t get why. Probably because the spark on Matsumoto’s eyes...

“Aw, manners, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto tsked, “I thought you of all people would understand it best.”

Sho took some steps backwards when Matsumoto walked even closer. The loot was still gripped tightly in his hand, if not more tightly.

“What do you–”

“I was waiting for you, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto cut Sho’s sentence casually, “That, and nothing else, I think. Not even a hi from Keiko chan,” Matsumoto furrowed his eyebrows, like he was trying to remember it.

“Why do you even–”

“I have something to say to you, and what better timing to talk to you than in the middle of a mission, right?” Was Sho seeing things, or did Matsumoto’s eyes really twinkle on that last sentence?

“Stop cutting my sentences, Matsumoto,” Sho hissed, trying to distract himself from getting lost in Matsumoto’s eyes.

“Alright then, I’ll let you finish it. What do you want to talk to me?” Matsumoto replied with a suppressed giggle.

A brief silence was then fallen onto them because Sho didn’t really have anything to say to Matsumoto and Matsumoto kept waiting for him like he had all the time in the world.

“So?” Matsumoto finally broke the silence.

“You’re the one with something to talk to,” Sho barked, feeling slightly embarrassed because, hell, this Matsumoto really did play with his mind pretty well.

Matsumoto chuckled again. Sho cursed him in his head, could he stop chuckling already? Sho felt himself balling his free hand to a fist. This man was too attractive for Sho’s liking, seriously.

“Well, I was just going to say that I’m going to leave the country anytime now, a Chinese thievery organization recruited me because they said that I’m too good to be let out doing missions by myself,” Matsumoto finally got himself to the talking, for real, not beating around the bush anymore, “I want you to know, in case you’re going to look for me if I suddenly disappear without telling you.”

“Why would you think that?” Sho hissed.

“Because I like you?” Matsumoto shot the words straight to Sho’s heart and his brain went short-circuited. For a good moment, they spent the time looking at each other’s eyes, trying to look beyond what was said by the words. But then, “I’m just kidding,” Matsumoto laughed and broke the staring contest.

“I just want to let you know about that, that you will no longer have an enemy after I’m gone. In case you find my presence delightful. So you won’t really feel the loss when I’m no longer around,” Matsumoto shrugged.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Sho snorted, “I don’t even like you, you arrogant jerk. You’re going out of country? Good. I hope you will never return because I wouldn’t want to see your face ever again.”

There was a slight change in Matsumoto’s face that Sho wasn’t able to recognize. The twinkle that was in his eyes was gone, and the curve of his lips started to turn into a pout. A very cute pouty smile that Sho wondered how it would be like to kiss it.

Wait, what? Sho shook his head, not believing himself.

“If you say so, then, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto took his steps backwards, retreating, “It’s been nice to know you. I wish we have met differently and we have spent more time together. I adore you, you know. There are a lot of things I wish I know better about you.”

Sho kept standing on his place as Matsumoto walked away, just like how he always did whenever Matsumoto left him. Although, that time, there was something bothering inside his chest that Sho couldn’t explain what. He kept assuring himself that he was wrong and that he was imagining things when he heard a sigh right before Matsumoto disappeared. That sigh sounded like Matsumoto was broken-hearted for Sho and that wasn’t even possible, because, how would you know if someone was broken-hearted just by their sigh?

\- $ -

It had been a month ever since Matsumoto told Sho about his leaving. Sho had no actual idea whether Matsumoto had already left or he was still in the country by then. All he knew was, they had never met him again in their missions, and probably that was for the best.

Although, Sho couldn’t explain the constant pain that had been taking a place in his heart. He didn’t really understand why he could feel something like that, for he was sure that Matsumoto leaving really had nothing to do with him. Even so, that time, Sho found that Matsumoto’s absence was as distracting as his presence.

Sho still went around doing the things he’s used to do. He planned missions, he stole art pieces, he fucked with Shun and Meisa accordingly – or more accurately, fucked Meisa and getting fucked by Shun –, he socialized with people at some cocktail parties to broaden his network for their job was client based, but something was always missing.

It was hard to admit – and Sho would probably never admit – that his job had gotten some degrees more interesting when Matsumoto was around. It felt so fulfilling to him that he could actually defeat an enemy, despite he didn’t really defeat him at the first place. It felt so challenging to up his game every time, as a preventive way if one day he had to defeat Matsumoto for real. Sho tried so hard to assure himself that it was just him missing the thrill, it was just him missing his added dose of adrenaline rush.

Sho kept assuring himself about that, and he kept going with everything in his life as if nothing had ever happened. As if he had never met Matsumoto Jun at the first place. He tried to make his move to Keiko again that he had been more successful and confident by then, but he still didn’t manage to get her attention. Later on, he found out that Keiko wasn’t interested in cool guy at all – she had a boyfriend who was basically a weird dork, making him regret all the time he had spent being an impressive and dazzling gentleman around her.

Nino liked to joke about that at times, saying that Sho should have gone ahead with his silly hopeless self instead of acting all cool. Keiko would probably fall into his arms faster if he did so, Nino said, which Sho always gladly answered with a smack to Nino’s head.

The relationship inside the group was getting better than ever, that Sho also felt thankful about. Everyone was less stressed out since they no longer had a real opponent. They were always the kind of people who worked better without pressure anyway.

But Sho still couldn’t help himself from feeling the emptiness. The feeling was very bothering for Sho that he decided to go ask Nino if he had Matsumoto’s contact details. Nino had teased him for that, of course, but then he just smiled and handed Sho what he asked for. “Don’t ask where I got this from,” was the only thing Nino said after that.

Sho saved the number properly on his phone. He still had no idea why he did that, all he knew was something felt missing and it wouldn’t stop bothering him ever since Matsumoto disappeared. That made him feel like he had to ask Matsumoto for some explanations.

That night, Sho was beating himself up for not being able to compose something for Matsumoto. He wanted to send the man a text; he just didn’t know what to send. After all, he had never actually talked with the man like normal people, and their talk only consisted of Matsumoto talking and him mostly freezing in place when Matsumoto did so.

When Sho’s thumb was still hovering over the keyboard on his messaging app, trying to figure out what to send, there was suddenly something coming up.

There was a new message on the thread with Matsumoto which Sho hadn’t even managed to start.

_Good afternoon, Sakurai san. Are you doing well? This is me, Matsumoto Jun._

Sho’s eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. Did this man also read mind or what?

_I just want to tell you that I’m going to have my flight tomorrow evening. And if you would, I want to offer lunch just some time before that. What do you think?_

Sho’s eyes grew even bigger as he scrolled the message. His heart beat so fast like a teenager receiving a love letter from a crush and he didn’t even understand why yet.

_Nothing special, though. I just want to at least say goodbye more properly. I was serious about admiring you, Sakurai san. And if you would, I really wish we could at least interact like normal people for one last time before I leave for good._

Sho didn’t realize that he had been holding his breath until he felt choked. The text from Matsumoto was really bizarre, not to mention out of the blue, but he didn’t feel like it was a bad thing at all. He continued scrolling through his phone.

_I sincerely hope that you wouldn’t refuse my invitation, since I really want to meet you outside our wicked working places._

Sho took a deep breath before typing a reply on his phone.

_I’m free tomorrow, fortunately, so I think we can have that lunch. Just name a time and place, I’ll be there._

Sho figured that it would be best to let Matsumoto decide everything. He typed a quick confirmation after Matsumoto replied with the itinerary, and he put his phone on the bedside drawer.

That night, Sho tossed and turned on his bed for at least an hour before he gave up and got himself some of his sleeping pills.

\- $ -

Sho swirled the wine on his glass. He and Matsumoto were in a nice Italian restaurant just around the corner of his area. That was the first time he went there, though. Actually, if it wasn’t for Matsumoto’s invitation, he would probably never find out about the restaurant.

Sho still had no idea why Matsumoto wanted to invite him to lunch. Matsumoto said that there were things he would like to talk about, but as far as their lunch went, the guy didn’t really talk much, save for the casual small talks. Sho had no problem with that, really, if that was what that arrogant jerk wanted. But then again, if that was what he had wanted, the lunch wouldn’t really be necessary.

Speaking of arrogant jerk, Sho mulled. Matsumoto hadn’t been the cocky dude he usually was when they met in a mission. He was talking more politely to Sho, and Sho appreciated that. It wasn’t that Sho was a snob or anything, it was just that it’s easier to talk with Matsumoto when he wasn’t being the jerk that he was.

Sho sipped his wine then put the glass down on the table. They just finished their main course, waiting for the dessert to be served. Sho figured that their lunch would be over soon and he still didn’t get the reason that lunch was needed in the first place, so he asked, “What do you want to talk about with me, actually?”

Matsumoto smiled at that question, locking his eyes to Sho’s direction. Sho felt a little uncomfortable, although the way Matsumoto looked at him wasn’t anything like the way he usually did when they were on a vault together. Or was it just because of the lighting?

“Sakurai san,” Matsumoto said with a tone of voice Sho was unfamiliar with: soft and warm. The ever so arrogant and intimidating Matsumoto wasn’t there, replaced by a gentle looking man, “I’ve told you, I want to start it all over.”

Sho had to blink a few times to stop himself from counting the moles on Matsumoto’s lips, and his neck, one thing he did to avoid looking directly to the beautiful brown orbs. “What do you mean start it all over?”

Matsumoto smiled again, taking his glass of wine and sipped it, and suddenly Sho felt intimidated in a completely different way than he usually felt before. “My name is Matsumoto Jun. I work as a thief, art thief, to be specific. I love Italian food and I’m horribly difficult in mornings.”

Sho was baffled. What did Matsumoto mean and why did he suddenly go on with a casual introduction about himself?

Matsumoto chuckled a bit when he saw the look on Sho’s face. “What about you, Sakurai san?”

Sho had zero idea what Matsumoto was talking about, so he replied with a short, “Huh?”

Matsumoto smiled again then straightened himself on his seat. He folded his arms on the table, drawing himself closer to Sho’s personal space, “I was serious when I said I admire you, Sakurai san,” he paused to take a breath, “You’re probably the reason I’m going to China in less than six hours from now.”

Sho still had no idea what Matsumoto was talking about, and all he managed to utter was yet another, “Huh?”

Matsumoto didn’t seem to be affected by that at all. He locked his gaze to Sho while continuing his speech, “Sakurai san.”

“Yeah?” Sho finally was able to make another answer.

“Have you been listening?” Matsumoto drew himself back to lean on his chair.

“Yeah,” Sho took a deep breath, not realizing that he had been holding it because of their distance.

Matsumoto chuckled and shook his head, “And here I thought I was the one who’s nervous,” he mumbled.

Sho blinked his eyes several times, then, “I’m not nervous.”

Matsumoto snorted, “Yeah, right.”

“I’m not,” Sho raised his tone a bit, “It’s just. I don’t get it why you find it necessary to talk to me about your name or what you like and why you’re going to China. I mean,” Sho shook his head in exasperation, “Could you stop looking at me like that? It’s... distracting!”

Then, Matsumoto’s face was cracking into another kind of smile. He grinned until all his teeth was shown and his eyes, the beautiful pair of brown orbs, were sparkling. “You think so?”

“What?” Sho barked. He was really lost. Matsumoto kept saying weird things and showing distracting expression and Sho really didn’t know what to do. Or say. Or what Matsumoto wanted from him.

“Sho san,” Matsumoto replied, and Sho almost spat another scold because, hell, that man dared to call him on first name basis, “I think our dessert is here,” he gestured to the waiter who, apparently, had been waiting on the side of the table.

Sho jerked his head and pulled his arms off the table – since when were they on the table? – making room for the waiter to serve their desserts.

They had their desserts in silence. Sho was still thinking about what this Matsumoto actually wanted from him. Matsumoto, on the other hand, seemed to have decided to eat his desserts without commenting on it, except for his occasional chuckle.

When Sho finished his dessert, Matsumoto was still having some left on his plate. He tried so hard to not watch how Matsumoto’s hands moved to carefully cut the slice of tiramisu, then to move the fork to his mouth. He tried so hard to not stare at how Matsumoto licked his lips after he put the small part of said tiramisu inside his mouth. He had to take his glass and gulped his drink to not watch how Matsumoto’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

After three minutes that felt like forever for Sho, Matsumoto was finally done with his dessert. He dabbed his mouth with the napkin before returning his attention solely to Sho. Sho fidgeted a bit on his seat because suddenly the Matsumoto he usually met was back. The coy smile, the arrogant sparks on the eyes, everything that Sho hated from him was showing up again.

“Sakurai san,” he used Sho’s last name again, “Please forgive me for the inconvenience you probably feel, if I could interpret the distressed look on your face during this meal as how you feel all along.

“I was serious about my words, I want to, well, I want to know you better, not as rival, or even fellow thieves,” Matsumoto shifted his gaze away from Sho’s eyes, “As stupid as it sounds, well, I want to know you better more personally. As friends, probably?

“But, you see, I also have no idea what to actually talk about when I meet you for real, and it has scared me as much as you, I think.”

“For God’s sake, Matsumoto,” Sho gritted his teeth, “Just say what is that you have in your head and stop beating around the bush because I’m not a fucking mind reader.”

Matsumoto pulled the corner to his lips to smile at Sho, “It just won’t work, Sakurai san, it won’t work this way. Instead,” Matsumoto reached to his pocket and drew something out. “Here’s my business card, Sakurai san,” Matsumoto took a card from the thing he had drawn out, that was turned out to be his wallet. “It has my e-mail address on it,” Matsumoto put the card on the table then pushed it to Sho.

Sho took the card from the table to observe it. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

Matsumoto didn’t answer that, of course, he stood up from his chair and said, “The meal is on me, but I really have to leave now,” Matsumoto gathered his belongings and smoothed his clothes, “I want to know each other better, Sakurai san, for real. But I just figured out that a lunch would be too... stressful for the both of us. So why not try sending each other message first, right? Besides, I really need to get rid of my phone number, so there, have my e-mail address”. Matsumoto pulled his hand and look at his watch. “I really have to go now, Sakurai san. And I’ll be waiting for your messages,” he said for the last time and walked towards the door.

“Wait!” Sho shouted right on time. He didn’t realize that he was already on his feet as he did so.

Matsumoto turned his face to look at Sho, another expression was there. Something Sho really had no idea about.

“Good luck in China,” was what he opted to say.

Matsumoto smiled, probably the most sincere smile Sho had ever seen of him, nodded his head, and walked out the door.

Sho stared at the card on his hand blankly. He flipped it once, twice, five times. He read and reread all the text written on that small piece of paper. Had Matsumoto Jun not so subtly asked him to make a move?

\- $ -

Sho stared at his phone. It had been two weeks since Matsumoto’s departure and he still hadn’t manage to send anything to him. Sho wasn’t even sure if he wanted to, since he really didn’t have anything to say and he didn’t know what Matsumoto expected from him.

What did he expect, anyway? If it was him who was so interested, why did Sho have to be the one to make a move? It was just nothing but absurd in Sho’s head.

Sho stuffed his phone to his pocket fast when he heard the sound of the door being opened. He didn’t want to be found out about what he had been up to. But they weren’t Sho’s companions for so long for nothing.

“Look, Sho fumbled with his phone again! We really need to steal it from him, Nino! He makes me curious,” Meisa’s voice was heard, followed by a snort from someone else.

“I’ve told you,” it was Nino, “He stared at nothing but his phone wallpaper. And it wasn’t like his phone wallpaper is really interesting anyway. Just let him be. I bet he’s just missing someone he doesn’t want to admit.”

Sho’s eyes went bigger. How did Nino know? But he opted to pretend that he didn’t hear it and reached for his can of beer on the table instead.

No, of course he wasn’t missing Matsumoto Jun. That much he knew for sure.

\- $ -

It was two months later and Sho still had the strange habit of staring at his phone like he was waiting for something. His mates still hadn’t stop teasing about that. Sho had no idea how they knew that he wasn’t waiting for anyone, but was battling with himself for sending Matsumoto messages.

If they started teasing him, Sho would always say that it wasn’t how they thought it was, that it had nothing to do with Matsumoto. That he was fine and they were being noisy. They didn’t stop teasing, of course, because they knew exactly what it was about.

“Sho is stupid,” Nino casually threw a comment when all of them, except Sho, were gathering for another preparation of their mission. Sho was supposed to be there too, but he hadn’t arrived despite having told them that he was on his way.

Meisa turned his head to look at Nino, feeling curious for that comment.

“Jun had been bugging me ever since he went off to China. He kept asking me questions like, is Sho kun alright? I haven’t heard from him ever since forever! Every single day ever since his departure. That dude is impossible!” Nino shook his head then took the can of beer in front of him.

“Wait, you have been talking to that Matsumoto dude?” Shun popped his head from the kitchen.

Nino snorted when he was chugging his beer, “That dude is my childhood friend. I was probably the one responsible for making him all crazy about Sho.”

“What do you mean?” Meisa already had her whole body facing to Nino’s direction. She was interested in how the story would unveil.

“I..,” Nino inhaled, then exhaled, “I had a crush on Sho,” he chuckled on himself, “I mean,” he looked to Meisa, then to Shun, “dude is hot, don’t you think? I mean, how can you resist a man like him?”

Shun nodded sympathetically and Meisa hid her laugh behind her palm.

“So I went on and bragged to Jun about this guy and it was too late when I realized Sho’s just a big goofball and it was just a silly crush. Jun already knew too much,” Nino laughed, “and Jun’s still interested in Sho even though he already knew how hopeless that guy is.”

“Who is hopeless?” Suddenly they heard Sho’s voice from across the room.

“My coffee is hopeless,” Shun replied from the kitchen, saving everyone’s ass.

Sho just nodded to that and apologized for being late. He told Nino to go ahead with the meeting and the day went by like nothing had ever happened.

\- $ -

_Was it true?_

Sho put his phone down after he pressed the send button. It wasn’t on his initial plan, sending as short of an e-mail to Matsumoto, but what he overheard from Nino before had made him worried.

_Hello, Sakurai san. It’s been a while.  
Much to my delight that you finally sent me a message, I can’t help but feeling that I have to tell you that you probably have sent a message to a wrong person._

Sho sighed on reading the reply.

_I hadn’t. That message was meant for you._

_Oh. Is that so? Then, please, Sakurai san, enlighten me. Because I have no idea what all this is about._

_Nino said that you’ve been asking about me._

_No truer words have been said._

_Why don’t you just go ahead and ask me yourself?_

_Sakurai san,  
I don’t want to be that jerk who bugs you with my messages asking about what you’re up to. I was actually waiting for you to tell me what I should do about this. Should I keep waiting? Should I give up? I have no idea._

_Stop it, Matsumoto. What do you want from me, anyway?_

_I don’t want anything from you, Sakurai san. I just like you. It’s that simple, actually._

_Why?_

_Why not?_

Sho put his phone away. He was so worked up by the fact that Matsumoto just won’t give up in... whatever it was. It wasn’t that Sho hated him or something. After all, all the nervousness Sho felt when he was around Matsumoto must have meant something.

Sho put his phone away and fetched himself a glass of water. Fuck this, he thought. Matsumoto could do as he pleases. He settled in a final thought before getting himself some sleep for the night.

\- $ -

_I wonder how it feels like to kiss you._

Sho stared at the message on his phone for the umpteenth time. It had been a week after Jun, Matsumoto had asked Sho to call him by just ‘Jun’ and so that’s how Sho called him in his head since then, sent the message. And yet there Sho was, still staring at it, having no idea on how to reply the message.

Their relationship had gone better since the first time they sent each other messages. They called each other on first name basis already and they messaged each other at least twice a day on their busiest days. If both of them were not busy, the messaging could last for the whole day. Given the fact that they didn’t work nine to five every day, their messaging lasted for the whole day almost every day. 

Sho could talk easily about anything with Jun. Apparently, they had a lot of things in common. Well, most of their talks revolved around their profession, but at least they had something to talk about together and Sho was more than grateful for that. He liked Jun, that much he’s willing to admit, and talking about easy stuffs like that made him feel more at ease around him. Not literally, of course, because Jun was in Shanghai while Sho was in ever so boring Tokyo. Even though Sho would like to try being around Jun again, after the awkward meeting they had before Jun left Japan.

But then that kind of message would come and Sho would be taken aback once again.

It wasn’t that Sho hated that side of Jun, no. It was just unbelievable for him that a man like Matsumoto Jun, a very attractive one, on that, would actually like him. He saw how Jun flirted with Keiko, and it was enough proof for him to not trust that kind of man.

What if he had meant something else? What if he had meant to flirt until Sho fall into his trap, and then leave him high and dry? What if, all of this was just an evil game of Matsumoto Jun and Sho was just something Jun used to toy around and to have fun?

Sho was a man with pride bigger than the world and he wouldn’t let such thing happen to him so easily.

But it’s been a while since the last time he exchanged messages with Jun and he started to miss Jun’s messages already. Sho took his phone, navigated to their conversation thread on his e-mail inbox, and started typing a message.

How is Shanghai today?

But he realized how that sounded distant and cold and totally unrelated to Matsumoto’s last message, so he discarded it and put his phone away.

\- $ -

The next week had gone more horrible for Sho. He still hadn’t managed to reply Jun’s last message and Jun hadn’t sent him another message since then. Sho had hoped for Jun to actually get past that and send something easier for Sho to reply, but he didn’t. Sho couldn’t bring himself to reply Jun’s message because he had no idea how to respond to such message. He was worried that his reply would either be too creepy – I wonder how it feels like too, I’m so curious about your moles, though, will you let me nibble them one by one? – or completely unrelated that Jun would mistake it for him being dismissive.

And yes, over the time he hadn’t replied the message, Sho ended up wondering the same about Jun, and felt gross about himself for thinking about such things. It wasn’t that he was a prude or anything, his sexual escapades with Meisa and Shun said everything but that. It was just that he didn’t think it’s appropriate to be thinking about such things when in reality he wouldn’t even admit that he was longing for the person.

“Sho! What the hell!” Meisa’s voice brought Sho to the present. He just remembered that he was in the middle of another said escapade, although, looking at Meisa’s distressed face, that wouldn’t last really long.

“Dude, I’m fine if your mind wander to somewhere else when we’re fucking because I’m that tolerant of a partner, but I didn’t say that I’m okay if your head is not in it!” Meisa continued her bitching while picking up her clothes and getting dressed up.

“Wait. Where are you going?” Sho just realized what Meisa was doing and he got up from the bed, intending to stop Meisa from leaving.

“Where are you going yourself!” Meisa spat her last words, pointing his finger to Sho’s crotch, before slamming Sho’s bedroom door behind her.

Sho looked down and found out why Meisa had been so pissed off. Apparently, the time he stopped himself from thinking about Jun, his body also stopped responding to Meisa’s touches. He grunted as he pulled his blanket to cover his naked body. There was no use trying for it anymore, Sho thought as he drifted off to sleep, his arousal buried on the back of his mind along with his fantasy of Matsumoto Jun.

\- $ -

One thing Sho had never noticed before was, he couldn’t function as properly as he used to when he didn’t get laid. Meisa still refused to have another session with him because she was traumatized by their last – horribly failed – session, and Shun, who had heard about it, didn’t even bother to tell Sho about his refusal. The only one left for Sho was Nino, and Nino also refused to do it with Sho because he was involved with his, “best, oldest friend ever”.

Sho didn’t mind it at first, thinking that he would just be able to go to some bar and get some easy fuck. But then, another month had passed, and the only thing keeping Sho from getting laid was that every time he started to get down to it with anyone, his fantasy about Jun would come out, and when he dismissed it, his arousal would also be dismissed.

It was pretty frustrating by that time, and it started to show up in his work. He became more careless as day went by, and he would sometimes be irritated over nothing. It wasn’t until one day Shun exploded in one of their meetings because Sho had been “irrational and difficult! For god’s sake, Sakurai, get your shit together!” that Nino decided that they needed another break from their missions. He called a one month holiday for all of them – for which they all agreed happily, except Sho – and by the end of it, everyone had to be ready for their next mission. No more of carrying a personal issue around and making it difficult for everyone else – which was actually only directed to Sho.

Yet, it wasn’t until the first two and a half weeks of the said holiday passed that Nino decided that he had to actually push Sho into doing something. Nino had known what happened, of course. He was better off not knowing, seriously, but Jun had become his friend ever since they were five years old, and it was inevitable that Jun would come to him every time he had a problem. And a Sho problem was a big problem for Jun.

So there Nino was, in front of Sho’s apartment door, bringing him some nice cans of beer because he knew that Sho wouldn’t talk freely without some alcohol in his system. He had told Sho that he just wanted to catch up and he didn’t want to go to the bar because that would be “too crowded, I just want to see you, checking if you’re alright”. When Sho opened the door, Nino was almost grateful because Sho looked less decent than he had expected him.

Sho wouldn’t tell Nino about what had been bothering him, of course, but then, after two cans of beer, he started to talk. He talked about how he had gotten to a good relationship over the past some months – “Not that kind of relationship! Just friends! We’re just friends!”. He talked about how he actually liked Jun – “I like him. As friends, okay?”. He talked about how he actually missed having Jun around – “I miss the surprise! And the thrill! It’s good to have some good opponent around, you see”.

After the fourth can of beer, Sho finally admitted that he had no idea how to respond to Jun’s last message. The fact that Jun had stopped talking to him completely made him even more clueless.

“If he’s really interested, if he really meant his words, he would say more about that, wouldn’t he? He’s just playing with me, I’m sure. Putting my feelings at bay now but screwing over some hot Chinese chicks. I mean, have you seen how flirty he was with Keiko?” Sho blabbered his thought after the sixth can of beer.

Nino took a deep breath. He wanted to make Sho see it. He wanted to tell Sho and make it clear for him, but he knew that talking to a drunken man was almost as useless as drawing on water.

But there’s no harm in trying, Nino took a sip of his first can of beer that night before starting his speech.

“Sho kun, don’t you see it?”

“See what?” Sho replied quickly, and then he took another sip of his beer.

“You miss him.”

“No I’m not,” Sho frowned.

“You do. In fact,” Nino added when Sho opened his mouth again, “you miss him so much that his absence in sending you messages bothered you this much.”

“I just don’t get it,” Sho whined again, ready to continue his blabbering. But Nino was faster.

“He misses you too.”

“What?”

“He does. I know this for a fact. He just stopped sending you message because he thought you weren’t interested,” Nino paused, waiting for Sho to reply, but Sho just stared at him with his eyes bulging and his mouth gaping.

“He told you about it before, remember? He doesn’t want to bother you Sho chan, he doesn’t want to bug you if you’re not interested. But believe me; he misses you just as much as you do.”

“I don’t miss him,” Sho started to slur.

“You’re such a mess, Sho,” Nino stood up from his seat, starting to take care of the empty cans. 

“Nooo. Ninooo. Where are you going?” Sho started to whine.

Nino sighed. He knew that leaving Sho in that state would just bring more trouble, so he had to stay and help Sho taking care of himself.

“Ninooo, I miss Juuuun,” Sho slurred again when he was all nice and warm and tucked in his bed.

Nino chuckled, “I know,” while imagining how Jun’s face would look like if he saw that exact scene.

“Juuuun,” Sho slurred again.

“Yes, yes, you miss Jun, I get it,” Nino tidied the blanket around Sho once again, and he patted the blanket for one last time, “I’m going home. Good night, Sho chan.”

Sho didn’t reply on that. His eyes were already closed although he still chanted Jun’s name like a lullaby.

Nino just hoped that all the troubles he decided to take wouldn’t go to waste. And that the two people he cared about the most would be happy together after that night.

\- $ -

The next morning, Sho woke with a light headache. He winced when he felt the pounding in his head, it was harder than the slight headache he had every morning. Then his brain filled him and he remembered what happened on the previous night. He remembered how Nino talked to him about everything and how he had whined about what he felt to Jun. His headache was then worsened, a wave of guilt was adding to the pain.

Sho didn’t only vaguely remember how Nino’s words were sharp to his chest. How Nino pointed every single thing that Sho missed to see. But as he lay on his bed that morning, head pounding and throat dry of thirst, he tried to dismiss his own guilt.

Nino was Jun’s best friend; of course he would say good things about him. Sho still didn’t know if Nino only did that to him or to another person Jun had a liking at. Like, Keiko, for example, Sho thought bitterly.

Sho reached to the bedside table for his phone, and then he saw a notification of a new message. His heart jumped in expectation. When he pulled down the notification tray, his expectation was immediately crushed. The message was from Nino.

I put the aspirin next to your phone. And the water too. Take a good rest, Sho kun. And try getting some fresh air while you’re at it.

Sho replied the message with a short “Okay” and took the medicine to lessen his pain. He had nothing scheduled to do that day but work, he tried to remember. But he was still on his one month vacation so that day was free. He then decided to follow Nino’s suggestion and figured that he should probably do some grocery shopping that day. 

Sho didn’t usually spend a lot of time to do his grocery shopping. He had a list, and he knew how to do it the fastest way. But that day, because Nino had said so, he took his time to wander around without rushing. As Sho was perusing the cereal shelf, trying to find the usual brand he used, he accidentally bumped his head to someone else. Sho quickly bowed to apologize, and only when he raised his head he realized that he bumped into Keiko.

“Oh, Sakurai san!” she greeted almost too cheerfully, “Long time no see! How is Jun kun?”

Sho frowned a bit at the question. Of course, even when she had a boyfriend, didn’t mean she didn’t get to ask about Jun once in a while. “Uh, he’s... good, I think. I haven’t seen him for a long while, though, ever since he departed to China.”

“Eeeh?” Keiko pursed her lips in surprise, “But you’re still together, right?”

“Excuse me?” Sho couldn’t hide his surprise.

“I mean, oh my god I’m sorry!” Keiko closed her mouth with her palm, “but I thought– ah, I’m really sorry. It’s just that, the only time I ever talked with Jun kun, he didn’t stop talking about you. He said it would really be nice to have a man like you as a partner, and he said he meant it in a romantic way, ah, did I say something wrong?”

“Ah, no, really, not really,” Sho stuttered. Really?

“And I thought you like him too, seeing how you were so angry to see him talking with me,” Keiko added with a giggle.

“Ah, I’m sorry if it felt that way for you,” Sho forced a chuckle. That woman totally had no idea.

“Well then, Sakurai san, I have to go now. I hope to see you later, ne?” Keiko said before taking what she needed from the shelf and walked away, waving her hands at Sho, “Oh and say hello to Jun kun from me, would you?”

Sho just smiled and waved his hand. Once Keiko was nowhere to be found, he stopped waving and balled his hand into a fist, “is that so?”

\- $ -

Jun closed the door of his apartment unit. He just finished a mission and it was a great thing that he could go home before the sun rises. In his line of work, it was not something strange to go home when the sun was rising, especially with the group he had been involved in.

Jun walked to his fridge to take a can of beer. He opened the can, gulped a good amount, and took it with him to his living room. He put the can down on the coffee table as he plopped himself on his sofa. It was another good night in which he didn’t feel like passing out on his bed when he got home, so he wanted to properly treasure it. He took his phone out from his pants’ pocket and opened his notification tray. 

There was still nothing showing on there.

Jun sighed. It’s been more than two months that he stopped receiving a message from Sho. Two months and half a week, to be precise. Jun couldn’t stop blaming himself for that, because it was him who made all this happened.

_I wonder how it feels like to kiss you._

Jun looked at his last message to Sho and it stared back at him. Jun thought it would be a nice gesture. Jun thought it was time for them to up their game a bit because, as much as he liked exchanging messages with Sho, it was boring to talk about what kind of pocket knife they used when they tried to open an old-styled locked door. Or debating on who was the first person to ever rob a bank. Sho was a passionate man when it came to his work, and Jun appreciated that, it was just that it would probably be nicer to talk about something more personal.

But apparently Sho wasn’t interested on that. Jun gulped his beer bitterly as he thought about that.

Just when Jun stood up from his seat, deciding that it would be just another Sho-less night and to that it would be better to just head up to bed, he heard a knock on his door. Jun was startled at that, it was fucking four in the morning. Who knocks doors at four in the morning?

Jun grabbed the bat he had lying on his living room and walked closer to his front door. He peeked over the hole – he had paid for something convenient like that to be installed to his front door because, well, one would never know, right? – and the sight outside was something that surprised him like nothing else.

It was Sho, standing outside his door, shifting on his feet.

“What are you doing here?” Jun shouted in a whisper as he opened the door, “Get in! In!” he pulled Sho inside and closed the door behind him.

“Good morning, Jun,” Sho smiled sheepishly.

“Good morning yourself,” Jun spat his words.

“Tsk. Don’t be so rude to your guess,” Sho ignored Jun and let himself in, “Your place is great!”

“Of course it is– what are you doing here, Sakurai Sho? Shouldn’t you be in Japan right now?” Jun followed Sho inside.

It was not what Jun had expected when Sho suddenly turned back and caught his face in his hand.

“I miss you,” Sho said, caressing Jun’s cheek, before leaning in to catch Jun’s lips with his.

Sho’s lips were soft, even though the time he spent outside had made them slightly chapped and mostly cold. But as Jun nibbled on it, he could feel how warm the kiss was, and how comforting kissing Sho could be. Jun felt as if his body was floating and Sho’s lips were the only thing anchoring him to earth. It’s cheesy, he knew, but it felt just too good to be true to finally had Sho’s lips softly pressed on his and Sho’s tongue poking, asking for permission. When he let Sho invade his mouth, as Jun mirrored with his tongue, Jun sighed. He felt like he was in one of his fantasy, unless, it was way better.

They broke the kiss after a while, panting. Sho still didn’t let go of Jun’s face. He put his forehead against Jun, and said, “Now you know how it feels like.”

Jun couldn’t believe what was happening and all he could say was “shut up!” before leaning in for another kiss.

It didn’t last very long, though, because Sho chose that moment to break the kiss and mock him, “Greedy. I take it you like how it feels like?”

“Are you for real? Because you talk too much,” Jun replied and kissed Sho again.

“I am so, very real,” Sho didn’t even let it to be more than a peck this time. He then put his hands on Jun’s waist, “Do you not like it?”

Jun replied the gesture by circling his arms around Sho’s neck as he pulled their bodies closer, “Really? Because what I remembered from Sakurai Sho was he couldn’t even look at me in the eyes the last time we met.”

“Are you sure you’re talking about the right Sakurai Sho?” Sho pecked Jun’s lips, “Because I can leave anytime you want, you know,” he pecked Jun’s lips again, “if you don’t want this Sakurai Sho here.”

“Oh my god, you’re so cocky, Sho san,” Jun locked his eyes to Sho, “What has gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” Sho broke their eye contact to kiss the mole on Jun’s neck and nibbled it slowly, “It’s just me, you see,” Sho answered to Jun’s neck.

Jun let out a sigh and some small moans when Sho raveled his neck with his tongue.

“Oh, and,” Sho lifted his face to look directly at Jun again, “Keiko said hello.”

“Oh shut up, Sakurai Sho,” Jun laughed, finally understood why Sho was there for him that night, and pressed his lips at Sho again, kissing him breathless. Sho didn’t let go this time, he let Jun in and twined their tongues together. Jun pressed his body even closer to Sho and Sho pulled him to his embrace by the waist.

When they parted again after that, both panting and desperate for air, Sho pressed his forehead to Jun’s again.

“I’m sorry, Jun.”

“What for?” Jun replied impatiently.

“For making you wait for so long,” Sho caressed Jun’s cheek with his palm.

“And what made you change your mind?” Jun pulled the corner of his lips to a smile.

“You know what,” Sho huffed, “I thought you liked Keiko,” Sho turned his head slightly to the side, trying to hide his blushing cheeks.

Jun couldn’t help but laughing because Sho was just so cute when he’s embarrassed like that.

“Well..,” Jun held Sho’s jaw and turned Sho’s face back to his direction. “The waiting has been worth it,” Jun whispered his words to Sho’s lips as he kissed Sho again. He took it more slowly this time; letting Sho sucked his upper lip – that man must have tried something with his mole – while he nibbled on Sho’s plump bottom lip. Jun tilted his head more to get a better angle, and felt that Sho was doing the same. He sighed contently and moaned to Sho’s mouth when Sho pushed his tongue inside his mouth again.

“Oh my god! I will never get enough of this!” Jun said when they had to take some more intakes of fresh air.

“Am I that good? Ouch!” Sho got a slap on the back of his head.

“Serves you right,” Jun stuck his tongue out.

Sho took the chance to suck Jun’s tongue with his mouth, giving Jun another kiss. It got more heated up than the previous ones. Sho sucked hard on Jun’s tongue, taking Jun’s whimpers for himself. When Jun tried to return the favor, he could feel the vibration of Sho’s grunts on Sho’s tongue. Their tongues ended up tangled in a battle of dominance until both gave up, gasping for air.

“Let me take you for a house tour,” Jun said between his ragged breaths.

“Yeah?” Sho tried to kiss Jun again but Jun tilted his head slightly so Sho only managed to kiss the corner of Jun’s lips, right on the top of his beauty mark.

“Come on, let me be a good host,” Jun took Sho’s wrist off his body and pulled him to move.

“Oh? And where do we start the tour?”

Jun turned his head to look at Sho, giving him his best killer smile, then he said, “Bedroom.”

If they didn’t make it to the bedroom and ended up fucking on Jun’s living room floor after that, it was totally not Sho’s fault.


End file.
